1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector having a lance for locking a terminal fitting thereto.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 7,083,471 relates to a connector for supplying an electric power to an apparatus mounted on an electric car such as a motor, inverter or the like accommodated inside a metal case. The connector has an electric wire-side connector mounted at an end of an electric wire and an equipment-side connector mounted on a mounting hole that penetrates through the case. The electric wire-side connector and the equipment-side connector are fit on each other to bring terminals in both connectors into contact with each other.
Cavities penetrate the housing of the electric wire-side connector and terminal fittings connected to ends of electric wires are accommodated in the cavities. Each terminal fitting has a lance-locking hole formed therein. An elastically deformable lance is formed in each cavity for locking the terminal fitting. The terminal fitting flexes a locking lance during insertion into the cavity. Thus, the lance deforms elastically into a flexibility allowance space adjacent to the direction in which the lance deforms. The lance then returns elastically to lock the terminal fitting in the housing in a removal-prevented state.
A retainer formed separately from the housing often is used to penetrate into the flexibility allowance space for the lance to prevent the lance from flexing and to keep the lance locked to the lance-locking hole. The terminal fitting is locked doubly to the lance and the retainer and thus is retained securely inside the housing.
The above-described construction requires the connector to have the housing and the separate retainer. Additionally, the housing must be formed with a mounting part where the retainer is mounted and a locking mechanism for holding the retainer on the mounting part. Thus, the housing is large and requires plural component parts.
The invention has been completed in view of the above-described situation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector which is capable of holding a terminal fitting at a high strength by a double locking construction and can be made to be compact.